Middle East

Israeli Researchers Find ‘Indisputable Proof’ of Oldest-Ever Fruit Tree Domestication

(JNS) Israeli researchers on Thursday announced the discovery of the earliest evidence of fruit-tree domestication, dating back seven millennia. According to researchers from Tel Aviv University and the Hebrew University, charcoal remnants of olive trees found at the Chalcolithic Tel Zaf site in the Jordan Valley indicate that the trees were planted intentionally. This is

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Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education

‘Belligerent Occupation,’ Belligerent Report From UN

By Bruce S. Ticker PHILADELPHIA — If only Israel would end its “belligerent occupation.” Most of us know better, but don’t tell that to the United Nations Human Rights Council. Its Commission of Inquiry released the first of what they hope will be decades of annual reports on Israel’s oppression of the poor Palestinians. The

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Bruce Ticker, International, Middle East, Opinion

21 Countries Defend Israel Against UN Commission of Inquiry

By Mike Wagenheim (JNS) While an official U.N. Commission of Inquiry seeks Israel’s diplomatic isolation, 21 nations came out in support of the Jewish state on Monday, expressing concern about the commission’s uncommonly broad mandate and the U.N. Human Rights Council’s irregular targeting of Israel. In Geneva, the three members of a U.N. Commission of

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International, Middle East, USA

Israel Says US Should Helm Mideast Build-Up Against Iran

Published by Reuters JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israel and Arab countries that share its worries about Iran should build up their military capabilities under Washington’s aegis, the Israeli defence minister said on Tuesday ahead of a visit to the region by U.S. President Joe Biden. Biden’s July 13-16 tour will include Israel, the Palestinian territories and Saudi

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Middle East, USA

Biden Signals US-Saudi Thaw

Published by AFP Washington (AFP) – US President Joe Biden will meet with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman next month, abandoning efforts to ostracize the kingdom’s de facto leader over the horrific murder of a dissident. The White House ended weeks of speculation Tuesday, announcing that Biden will travel to Israel, the Palestinian

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Middle East, USA

In Shaky Coalition, Any MK May Press Demands

Israeli politics is living on the edge. Its widely diverse government ranges from left to right, with an Arab party. It squeaks from one crisis to the next. Mostly they’re about individual Knesset Members who seek to exploit the possibility or reality of their voting against a government measure for the sake of some aspect of their political ego. Arabs claim that the government is not doing enough for their community. Maybe they are pressing for a personal appointment, as head of a local authority. Jews threaten to vote against a government that gives in to Arab pressures. But maybe they are pressing for something more personal. [Ira Sharkansky, PhD]

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East

US Mission to Palestinians Renamed, Will Report Directly to Washington

Published by Reuters By Dan Williams JERUSALEM (Reuters) -The U.S. diplomatic mission to the Palestinians in Jerusalem said on Thursday that it had been redesignated and will report directly to Washington “on substantive matters”, signalling an upgrade in ties ahead of a planned visit by President Joe Biden. The former “Palestinian Affairs Unit” (PAU) was

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Middle East, USA

Ishay Ribo Elevates Disability Care With Benefit Concert for ADI

(JNS) As spring gives way to summer, the live music scene is heating up in Jerusalem, and the first must-see concert of the season had an empowering twist. On Monday evening, June 6, international superstar Ishay Ribo played a sold out show at the Jerusalem Theater to benefit ADI Jerusalem, ensuring that the residential, rehabilitative

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Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts

The Rich Tapestry of Jerusalem Architecture

By Gedaliah Borvick JERUSALEM — When I lived in the U.S., I enjoyed the variety of architecture found in my neighborhood. Typically, the homes were colonial houses with their symmetrical front facades and accented doorways, split level homes with staggered floors, one-story ranch houses, and enchanting Tudors with pitched roofs, herringbone brickwork and touches of

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Gedaliah Borvick, Jewish History, Middle East, Travel and Food

Israel and the Palestinians: Messy, But Perhaps Stable

By Ira Sharkansky, Ph.D JERUSALEM — Israel’s relations with the Palestinians are truly messy. But they may last. How long? Who knows? Except with Gaza, there are no firm borders. Israel’s settlements, much beyond east Jerusalem, spread into the West Bank. Israel also enters the Palestinian areas in order to deal with individuals who threaten

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, Opinion

Israel’s Weizmann Institute Joins NASA Planetary Defense Exercise

(JNS) Representatives from the Weizmann Institute’s Physics Faculty in Rehovot joined more than 100 astronomers worldwide in a recent NASA planetary defense exercise. As part of the exercise, David Polishook, a member of the faculty and also director of Weizmann’s observatory, deleted a previously detected “near-Earth object” asteroid from the asteroid database, to see if

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Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA